Why Israel Says no to Another War on Gaza?

Despite the US endorsement of escalation, Israel says it has no plans to start a new war on Gaza.

In recent days, there have been two spates of rocket fire from the enclave, both by the ISIL-linked Omar Brigades. Hamas is fighting against the Omar Brigades and rocket strikes reflect the group’s inability to take on Hamas directly – and their similar expectation that they could sucker Israel into doing their dirty work for them.

Still, that’s not the only reason why Israeli army commanders are not going to the war well early on:

– It was the generous petrodollar cash handouts by the Saudis that financed Israel’s last summer war on Gaza. The Saudis are financing the death cult of ISIL and its al-Qaeda soul mates in Iraq and Syria. They have also launched their own war of aggression against Yemen – with a helping hand from Israel, the United States and Arab allies. With oil prices down the drain, the Saudis simply don’t have the extra cash to finance yet another Israeli war.

– Irrespective of the usual bellicose comments from Tel Aviv, the significant shift in Israeli policy would hardly be surprising. Last year, the occupying regime failed to fail Gaza in an ill-conceived war on a minor pretext. Despite the criminal blockade, the besieged city is still standing and has no intention to surrender. So there is no reason to think this time it will be otherwise. In the court of world public opinion, Palestinians have every right to fight for human dignity and justice.

– The Saudi-Israeli alliance is busy destroying Yemen and its civilian infrastructure. Simply put, the strange bedfellows don’t have the necessary military resources and the will to get involved in yet another war of deceit in the Middle East.

– The covert Israeli-Saudi flirtation has been going on for decades. The relationship is coming out of the closet now, as the war drums in the Middle East grow louder. Moreover, the prospect of a nuclear deal with Iran presents itself as a possibility, which is why Washington is giving unconditional support to Riyadh the same way it has been giving unquestioning allegiance to Israel. The US endorsement of the Yemen war and new escalation in Gaza should be understood within this context.

In effect, the policy shift by the Israeli army generals leaves no doubt whatsoever that the tide has finally turned against Israel and that the bankrupt regime has no guts, no resources, and certainly no international mandate to start another ill-conceived war on Gaza.

With the lessons learned, the Palestinians have similarly realized that armed resistance is far more effective than dialogue with Israel or presenting a bill to the United Nations that refuses to live up to its name.